No Bull: Paxson hits hot topics
By Mike McGraw
Daily Herald Sports Writer
Posted Thursday, July 27, 2006


The Bulls have been the talk of the NBA after luring free-agent center Ben Wallace from Detroit.

Since the news conference to welcome Wallace, the Bulls officially traded Tyson Chandler to New Orleans for P.J. Brown and J.R. Smith, shipped Smith to Denver for a pair of second-round draft picks and are about to re-sign veteran swingman Adrian Griffin.

General manager John Paxson spoke to the Daily Herald to discuss the summer moves and what is in store.

Q. Ever since Ben Wallace signed, there seems to be excitement around town about the Bulls. How excited are you personally about next season?

A. I’m excited about the possibility of what we could be. I do know when you make a lot of changes, which we have, there’s going to be a growing period. That’s always a concern from my seat, how long it’s going to take for our group to get together and get acclimated. But I think all of us believe we’ve made some moves that will make us better and that’s the objective.

Q. What do you think P.J. Brown will add to the Bulls?

A. P.J. is one of those unique veterans who always keeps himself in great condition, prides himself on the fact that he’s had longevity in this league. You do deals for a lot of reasons. But one of the things we looked at is P.J. averaged 31 minutes a game last year and put up solid numbers like he always does.

Q. Brown is your tallest regular now at 6-feet-11 and he’ll be 37 when the season starts. Does that make acquiring another big man in the next year or so a top priority?

A. Well, yeah, that’s something we’ll have to address. Next year’s draft is going to be very deep. We’ll still have the ability to have money and do some things in free agency, hopefully.

What we’ve added this off-season more than anything is versatility, length and athleticism. We think you can do things different ways. We like that we have a versatile group of players and a group that will allow (coach Scott Skiles) to play a variety of ways. I think we’ll have competition in training camp that we haven’t had in many years.

Q. You obviously traded away Chandler to make room for Wallace’s contract. Tyson just had a rough season, but his statistics in 2004-05 were similar to Wallace and he’s eight years younger. Was it a tough decision to let him go?

A. The criticism already from people about our deal is we took on an older player and Tyson’s young. What I know about Ben Wallace is he’s an established player in this league. He’s not going to stop trying to be one of the best defenders in the league. Yes, we had to give up Tyson and you can always say, ‘What if?’

The fact of the matter is I have great respect for Tyson. We tried everything here over the last couple years to help him improve and put him in the right situation. It’s quite possible that he’ll have a great career. I fully expect that to happen. It’s just sometimes you say to yourself, ‘It would be helpful if things had worked out a little bit sooner.’ That’s one of the risks you take when you draft young.

Look, we’re moving forward. Tyson’s moving forward. Now he’s no longer the guy that has to live up to being traded for Elton Brand. He’s no longer the guy that has to live up to the contract he got last year (six years, $63 million), because he’s in a new situation.

At this point in time, we obviously feel a veteran like Ben Wallace is really going to help us. Ben played 35 minutes a game for a team that won 64 games. He gets the knock that he’s not an offensive player. We still feel that you win a lot of games in this league by defending and rebounding.

Q. You traded shooting guard J.R. Smith to Denver almost immediately. Why not take a look at him in training camp first?

A. Our backcourt is still one of the youngest in the league. I just felt it would have been very difficult having another young player back there, especially given the fact that it isn’t likely that he’s going to play a lot of minutes for us.

He’s a very talented kid and we were trying to get the best kind of deal we could. But I didn’t want to go into the season looking for a veteran backcourt player knowing that I could have made a move to get one early in the summer.

Q. Outside of signing Adrian Griffin, are any other personnel moves planned?

A. We’ll probably just take a deep breath. Obviously, the thing we’re going to keep our eyes and ears open for is the ability to find another big if possible. Maybe something comes down the pike that we can take a look at.

When Adrian becomes official, we’ll have 13 players under contract. We know all 13 will be able to contribute to our success. Once we get into the year and guys’ roles are defined, we’ll put a product on the floor that will win a lot of games.

I interperet this as: "We're waiting to see what happens with Drew Gooden."

And to see if KG wants out.

keep dreaming

At this point I don't want KG. Unless the team accepts the fact that they will be well over the cap.

What would we have to give up for KG. Thomas, Deng, Sweetney, Brown and 2 second rounders.

Or Thomas, Gordon, Brown, Sweetney? for KG and Mark Blount

That leaves us with

Hinrich/Duhon/Sefolosha
Gordon/Sefolosha
Nocioni/Khryapa
KG/Allen
Wallace/Blount

I think that lineup wins a title or three but then puts us right back in the rebuilding process. The way our lineup is setting up now we are putting ourselves in a position to be great for years to come. Most of our players are under 25. By the time Thomas develops (if ever) the players will be in the prime of their career.

KG will make 21 million next year. Add that to Wallaces $16. That is $37 million for 2 players. The Bulls would only have $28 million before they go over the luxury tax treshold for the other 13 guys they have to have. Adding Mark Blount would reduce that amount to $21 for 12 guys. How do you sign Hinrich and either Deng/Gordon and Nocioni with that?

I love KG. I know he can lead us to a championship but he costs to much. Unless Minnesota absorbs a big portion of his contract I don't see how we can afford him. Also, it looks like KG has a player option after next season. That means he could opt out of his contract snub the Bulls and sign with another team for less money. He is super rich so I don't think he cares about the money. However, I don't think he would do that to the Bulls being he is from Chicago.

Either way I think Minnesota will lose him so I believe you will see his name floating around at the Trade deadline this year. So let the bidding begin. If the Bulls don't get him maybe the Atlanta will? Who in the East would have the players to pull a deal? Orlando with Grant Hill's massive expiring contract? New York you know Isiah would do anything to try stump the Bulls? Plus the Knicks have several expiring contracts. Washington? Charlotte? Charlotte has enough cap room to fit 2 KGs and a lot of good young talent. Atlanta also has some sick young talent.

I wish Nene did not get a big contract.

i would have loved to c this roster

PG-Kirk Hinrich/Chris Duhon
SG-Ben Gordon/Thabo Sefolosha/Adrian Griffin
SF-Luol Deng/Andres Nocioni
PF-Nene/Tyrus Thomas/Andres Nocioni/Antonio Davis (i want him back lol )
C-Ben Wallace/Nene/PJ Brown

I know Paxson is looking more for a post-player than just another big that just plays D but no one is available. Maybe somone is available because im sure Paxson would have drafted one if he didnt have one n mind that could be available.

Thats y i wish Nene didnt sign a big contract and we could have traded to get him n 3 months. Since im new to basketball im not sure how all this stuff with cap and all works.

Unless we could get a big for a good value I don't see Pax making another move. I think the plans are to go status quo this year, win a playoff series or two and if all goes magically right we get into the NBA Finals and see what happens.

Than next year Pax will know a lot more about the club and I think he'll try to use the exemption to get a pretty good veteran to a one or two year deal that wants to go to a team where he has a shot at winning it all (mix that in with what should be a pretty damn good draft pick or a pick that we could package for the last piece) and I think we'll be in real good shape to have a long run at trying to win the title.